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Sleeve Notes
No one needs telling — least of all the youngsters — that folk singing is sweeping the country. There was a time when a small audience of folk-song devotees would gather in a hall to hear one of a half-dozen or so groups sing the spirited folk songs of America. Today, however, it's a rare city indeed that hasn't played host to local or touring folk artists, filling its high school, college or civic auditorium to the rafters with enormous, enthusiastic crowds.
Whether old or new, down-to-earth folk songs have an appeal to which our hearts invariably respond. Gathered together in JUST PLAIN FOLK are many of today's most outstanding folk artists, soloists and groups — and in one instance, a famous baritone who from time to time enjoys forsaking musical comedy's glitter for the gold of our rich heritage of folk songs.
Appropriately, the proceedings begin with This Land Is Your Land, by one of America's greatest folk-song writers Woody Guthrie. THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS, a vastly successful group, perform the stirring ballad in their infectious, robust style.
PERCY FAITH fans have come to expect the unexpected from this talented conductor. Here, Percy leads his orchestra of nearly fifty musicians in a breath-taking arrangement of The Lemon Tree.
No one is immune to the timeliness and timelessness of a folk song, whether he hears it out in the fields, at a folk festival or in the comfort of his armchair. In Pretty Peggy-0, BOB DYLAN brings you his special world of folk singing, a world that contains exciting music-making.
The fresh vitality of THE BROTHERS FOUR has charmed audiences in concert and nightclub appearances, and in their frequent performances on television. Mike Kirkland, Bob Flick, John Paine and Dick Foley derive enormous pleasure from singing, and playing guitars, banjo and bass. You'll share their enjoyment as you listen to them in Michael Row the Boat Ashore.
Greenwich Village's Washington Square lends its name to the lilting tune played by the orchestra of LES AND LARRY ELGART. In this colorful area of Manhattan, youthful folk singers and instrumentalists get together to perform such folk-inspired tunes as — Washington Square!
The folk jamboree continues on the record's other side as famed baritone EARL WRIGHTSON sings Shenandoah, one of America's most beautiful folk songs. Although Mr. Wrightson is accustomed to singing hits from Broadway shows, his rich, resonant voice is ideally suited to this moving song.
Greenwich Village again provided the inspiration for a name — this time for a group, THE VILLAGE STOMPERS. [2] The zest and irrepressible high spirits with which they perform such folk tunes as If I Had a Hammer are impossible to resist.
PETE SEEGER, as well as being co-writer of the previous selection, performs two famous traditional ballads here: Johnny Riley and Barbara Allen. Seeger is recognized as one of the world's greatest folk-song interpreters and composers.
The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, a foursome with the Emerald Isle in their voices, give an authentic treatment to a fine old Irish story-in-song, Brennan On the Moor.
A happy group of virtuosos who call themselves THE BANJO BARONS bring their unique sparkle to the album's concluding selection, Goodnight Irene, written by John Lomax and Huddie (Leadbelly) Ledbetter.
Here is an album that has all the warmth and friendliness of its title — JUST PLAIN FOLK!